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WASHINGTON Exposed to the light of day, a year-end, $1.1 trillion spending bill drew vociferous objections from liberals and milder criticism from conservatives Wednesday while lawmakers readied a brief, stopgap measure to prevent a government shutdown both parties vowed to avoid.

Democrats complained bitterly in public about a portion of the $1.1 trillion measure that eases regulations imposed on big banks in the wake of the 2008 economic meltdown even though 70 members of the party's rank and file supported an identical provision in a stand-alone bill late last year.

After a closed-door meeting, Democrats also chorused objections to a separate section of the spending bill that eases limits on campaign contributions to political parties.

The White House declined to state President Barack Obama's position on the legislation, negotiated in secret over several days by senior lawmakers, including top leaders in both parties and both houses.

"Putting these two things together in the same bill illustrates everything that's wrong with the political process right now," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

Republicans countered correctly that Democratic negotiators initially signed off on both. Speaker John Boehner rebuffed a request from the Democratic leader, California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, to jettison them.

"If Rep. Pelosi doesn't think her negotiators did a good job, she should discuss it with them," said Michael Steel, Boehner's spokesman.

On the other side of the political spectrum, some conservatives grumbled that the measure left the administration's controversial new immigration policy unchallenged until the end of February. That decision "makes no sense at all. We've let the Democrats set their agenda as though we lost the election," said Louisiana Rep. John Fleming.

Given opposition from an unknown number of conservatives, Boehner and the Republican high command likely will need some Democratic support to assure the bill's passage in a vote set for Thursday.

Whatever the Democrats' motive, the political crossfire left the massive, 1,603-page bill in limbo and so, too, chances of a smooth ending for a Congress marked by two years of intense partisanship. Other legislation awaited approval as lawmakers looked to the year-end exits.

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Liberals, conservatives criticize $1.1 trillion spending bill